The Fallen Knight
by FictionWriter453
Summary: Set in the DCAU. Superman doesn't notice Batman helping Wonder Woman from the rubble in 'Hereafter'. Someone else takes the fall when Toyman uses his dis-integrator
1. Chapter 1

_**(A/N: I do not own the DCAU. Warner Bros. does. I've always wondered how the episode 'Hereafter' would have gone if the 'victim' in the episode was Batman instead of Superman so this is my take on it. Please enjoy)**_

* * *

It was an all out fight between Superman's enemies and the Justice League. The group of enemies included Weather Wizard, Kalibak, Metallo, Livewire and Toyman. For a little while, they seemed to be winning but Toyman was using his new brand new feature on one of his 'toys'

He had apparently built a dis-integrator within a giant 'toy robot' that was now threatening not only the Justice League but the entire city of Metropolis as well. He had attempted to use it on people all across the city (before members of the League had saved them), leaving several giant holes that lead into the sewer system, looking like they had been clean cut off with a giant knife. The League had done their best trying to avoid it but soon, Toyman had then aimed his dis-integrator at Wonder Woman, who was lying under a pile rubble after getting trounced by Kalibak into a building, tearing it down onto her.

Batman had noticed and quickly moved towards her location. Toyman was beginning to fire another beam at the two. Batman, barely having enough time to get her out of the rubble, quickly put his grappling hook in her hand and pulled the trigger. The hook fired onto a nearby street lamp and the Amazon Princess went flying away towards safety. The Brooding Dark Knight Detective however wasn't so lucky.

The beam fired by Toyman's robot had blasted right into Batman. The Dark Knight screamed as his molecules appeared to vaporize. Soon, the beam faded and there was nothing left. The crumbled building that had once been there before had been obliterated as well.

What followed was pure silence from all corners of the city. People all around looked in shock as the Legendary Batman of Gotham City, the hero famous for overcoming anything and everything against all odds even with no powers, was gone.

Superman, who had been too busy fighting to notice, looked down at the scene. His mouth was wide open, shocked to say anything.

The rest of the League wasn't faring too good either. Flash, Hawkgirl, Green Lantern, J'ohn. They all looked about the same.

The silence continued until Diana let out a raging yell and flew towards the robot and smashed inside it. The robot exploded and fell down to the ground. Toyman fell off the robot and fell to the ground just as it was landing. Wonder Woman reached down and grabbed him by the collar. He should have been thankful it wasn't his neck. Her hands with that grip would have cracked it.

"Batsy go bye bye!" Toyman laughed with child like glee. This made Wonder Woman angrier than she already was. Her perfect teeth were gnashing against each other, close to cracking.

"I should rip your chest open and tear out what there is of your heart" Wonder Woman said, tears strolling down her face.

Toyman said nothing. Whether he was scared or happy was hard to tell with his plastic mask.

Wonder Woman held him in her grip until Superman floated down and pressed his hand against her shoulder.

"Diana, stop. This isn't how we do things" Superman said. Although his face seemed all business, his heart was heavy and was close to shedding tears as well

"He killed Batman! He deserves it!" Wonder Woman said, his calming voice failing to soothe her.

"Even so, we must honor his dedication to justice. This isn't what he would want, Diana. Put him down….please" Superman said with regret into his eyes. He agreed with Diana and would love nothing more than to drop Toyman down the tallest building in Metropolis. However, he needed to respect his and his best friend's oath to Justice.

Wonder Woman looked between her friend and the fiend who took her closest friend's life. She shoved him down to the ground. Soon enough, the police came and cuffed him behind his back.

Diana looked down and saw the grappling hook Batman had used to save her life...and sacrifice his. More tears fell down her face as she held it close to her face.

Superman, for what it was worth, put his arms around her to comfort her. Diana cried tears onto the big 'S' on his chest as people around them just watched in pure silence, horrified and utterly speechless about what had just happened here.

The Dark Knight was gone from this world and left some heartbroken and soon to be heartbroken people behind.


	2. Chapter 2

_**(A/N: I do not own the DCAU. That right belongs to Warner Bros.)**_

* * *

The last few days on the Watchtower were unusually quiet, especially for a group that seemingly always had something to do or talk about. Even Flash wasn't making his usual round of jokes or annoying anybody with talk about how much of a ladies man he was. It was just pretty much silence wherever you went.

From a perspective, there was no reason that the League should be smiling. They had lost a member of their team and not just that. They weren't just a team. They were friends. They were a family and a member was selfishly taken away from them.

Hawkgirl was playing chess with herself in a corner of the Watchtower's control room. Whenever she made a move on one side, she would turn the board over and make a move on the other side.

John, who was leaning against a rail by one of the windows looking out into deep space, turned his head and noticed. It was kind of a sad sight to see Shayera play by herself given that she regularly played with Batman. As a matter of fact, she was the only one among them that could beat Batman on a regular basis. Of course, Batman still had a higher win count but to beat someone of Batman's intelligence at chess showed tremendous skill.

However, now, she was reduced to this.

John walked over to the corner of the room where Shayera was playing chess with herself.

He stood there for a few moments watching her play, knowing full well she knew he was there, before saying something.

"So…who's winning?" John asked, trying to put forth some form of levity to the situation.

"Funny" Shayera said blankly, using a black bishop to take out a white pawn. She didn't even look up to notice him.

John frowned. Although Shayera was one of the tougher members of their group, he knew it when she was sad. There was always a bond between them that they didn't really have with the others.

He put a hand on her shoulder and looked down at her. Shayera stopped playing and looked up at him.

"I'm going to miss him too, Shayera" John said, solemnly.

The Thanagarian stared at him for a few moments before sighing and tilted her head towards the ground.

"I can't even imagine how we're going to go on without him. He was the brains of our group" Shayera said.

"I know what you mean. He was always one step ahead of us. I remember one time when he wanted to know more about my ring so when I wasn't looking, he slipped the ring off my finger. I didn't even feel it being taken off. He looked at it and said 'it must require a lot of concentration'. I asked how he managed to get it off without me noticing and he said 'You weren't concentrating'" John said.

They both shared a laugh. The first actual laugh the both of them had in the last few days.

After Shayera was done laughing, she said "Maybe that was his superpower. His ability to be both smart and such a smartass at the same time"

John and Shayera let out another chuckle. After they were finished, they again both had frowns on their faces.

"It won't be the same without him" Shayera said.

"Ain't that the truth. The next time I'm going out on the field, I'm going to be fighting for him" John said.

"Me too. Especially if that ass Toyman shows his plastic covered face anywhere. You're going to have to pry me off of him so I don't strangle him" Shayera said, spitting at the mere mention of the culprit.

John simply huffed. "Not if I get to him first"

John and Shayera gave a little smirk to each other.

* * *

_*Diana's room*_

He always had to be the hero. He always had to be the one who put himself in harm's way to defend everyone else.

She never understood why he always had this need to prove himself. He was always a respected member of this team regardless of the fact that he didn't have any powers. He led them to many of their victories but for whatever reason, it just wasn't enough for him.

Now all she had of him was the grappling gun he used to save her. The last few days, she treated it like a prized possession, almost to the point where she never let it out of her sight.

The Amazonian princess and the Dark Knight always had a sort of special relationship. Anyone from afar could see that they were very good friends but there was something between them that wasn't mere friendship. Diana felt something she never felt or thought she could ever feel about a man. Whenever she was with him, she felt a certain level of happiness she just didn't feel with the other League members.

She guessed it started when Batman tried to dig her from under the missile that Grodd tried to destroy Gorilla City with. She remembered the kiss she planted on his cheek that day. It was something she never did for a man before but she felt a spark there. An innocent spark but a spark nevertheless.

Then there was that time they spent together in Paris. Of course, at first she didn't know that the man she danced with: Bruce Wayne was Batman but his presence alone caused her to a sense of familiarity about him that she eventually put two and two together. Not to mention the fact that he was handsome and charming, qualities the Batman possessed (Maybe a little more of the handsome trait than the charming one).

That was when she started developing feelings for him. Not feelings of friendship like with the other male members of the League...feelings of love. She never really knew it until he was gone and now she couldn't even reveal her feelings to him.

Just as she was about to take a nap, there was a knock on her door.

_"Diana. It's Flash! Superman is back and he's asking us to come to the control room. Says everyone has to come"_ Flash said from behind the door.

Diana sighed. The never ending fight continued.

* * *

_*Control room*_

Everyone gathered in the Control Room as Superman was about ready to make an announcement.

"We...need to start planning for Batman's funeral" Superman said.

The League all grimaced at the reminder, especially Diana.

"So I've taken it upon myself to invite those closest to Batman to help us. It's only right" Superman said and turned to the door. The other members of the League looked and saw where he was looking.

The doors to the Control Room opened and four people walked in: An elderly man in a suit, a young man with dark hair dressed in a black spandex suit with a blue wing symbol in the center of his costume, a girl with red hair with a suit somewhat identical to batman except she had yellow gloves, yellow boots, a yellow bat symbol in the center of her costume and a yellow belt and of course, even most of the members of the League knew about Robin, the boy wonder with his red suit along with his black and yellow cape.

"My fellow colleagues, allow me to introduce the Bat-Family" Superman said.

* * *

_**(A/N: For those who noticed: Yes. I did steal the Green Lantern story from Justice League: War but hey, it sounds like something Kevin Conroy's Batman would do so I thought it would be the best story to use here).**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**(A/N: I do not own the DCAU. That right belongs to Warner Bros.)**_

* * *

The members of the League thought the Bat-Family were a nice bunch of kids and that Alfred, Batman's trusty butler, was a kind elderly man. They only wished they had met under better circumstances. The superheroes could see the hurt in their eyes. The pain, the heartbreak.

Nightwing almost didn't believe it was true. After all, he was Batman. He couldn't just die but no matter what, the tape showed over and over that Batman had been vaporized by the Toyman without a single trace and there's no way he would have hid away this long unless it was for a very good reason. He finally come to the reality of the situation: The Batman was gone. His surrogate father was gone. His heart sank when he stepped of the denial phase of the grieving process. What made him feel worse was what he said to him the very last time they spoke to one another.

There was no doubt that their relationship had gone south over the past few years. He always thought that Batman was too secretive, too brutal in his approach and too demanding even when he was Robin but this one secret he had kept from him was just too much for him to handle to the point where he had enough. He had apparently found out that he was seeing Batgirl behind his back and had been for 2 months without once telling him.

To be honest, he didn't even understand how he hadn't seen it before. The way she always clung on him, it didn't just feel like they were colleagues or even just good friends. There had always been something between them and he was just too blind to see it.

After an intense argument, Nightwing told Batman that he was leaving and never wanted to see him again. He then left for Bludhaven the next day, leaving the hellhole Gotham City behind. He always was proud of that day, the day where he could finally step out of the Bat's shadow, be his own man. Now, though...he just felt awful. He pushed away the one man who took him in when no one else would and he just shoved him away. Now he was gone. Forever.

Of course, after Nightwing left, the relationship between Batman and Batgirl didn't last that long. Not only was there a significant age difference between the two, it just didn't feel right. Batgirl had always been like a colleague to her but there were also times that Batman saw her like a daughter (Even though she already had a father in their life). It just wasn't meant to be. They came to a mutual agreement to stop seeing each other.

Robin wasn't feeling any better about the situation. Batman was the only person who was like a father to him. After his biological father abandoned him, he let him into his home. He allowed him to take on the mantle of being Robin, the greatest honor a kid like him could dream of. It was as if life was playing a game with him. Trading his horrible life for a new a great one and now he was taken away his mentor...his father.

Batgirl of course had the most to be upset about. Batman wasn't only her colleague, he was her best friend and her ex-lover. Even though Nightwing knew him when he was 12 and Robin lived with him, she felt the closest to him. She felt like she was the one who really connected to him in a way the other members (Albeit Alfred) never had.

Since Batman had joined the League, she had to take over as the protector of Gotham. Since the Joker had decided to up his game out of Gotham (Mostly just to mess with Batman), things were easier. She actually felt like Batman every once in a while even though she wasn't as buff, smart or as experienced as him and there was also the fact that she was a woman in her early twenties.

When she had heard the grave news, she cried for 3 days straight. She hardly even came out of her room even to eat. Her father, Commissioner Gordon, practically had to drag her out of her room to dinner.

And of course, there was Alfred. What was the elderly butler supposed to think? Every time Batman went out, his lifelong companion had always warned him about pushing himself too hard. Batman always turned him away and saying that he was just fine but he wasn't. He always dreaded the idea of his constant pursuit of justice would get him killed one day and now his worst fear had been realized.

Alfred was there when Batman lost his first tooth, when he rode his first bicycle, when he was going on his first date and when he took on the mantle as Batman. He had been through it all and now there was a heavy hole in his heart that couldn't very well be replaced.

They may have been a dysfunctional family but they were still a family and now the head of that family was gone now and they were left broken.

The funeral was to be held at Gotham Cathedral. The City of Gotham had graciously agreed to cover the funeral expenses. After all, how could they refuse? This man who night after night kept their streets safe from criminals like the Joker, Penguin and Poison Ivy? Of course they would.

The attendees list of 'Special' Guests was quite large: Zatanna, Jason Blood, Static Shock, Lois Lane, Kara (Or Supergirl), Queen Hippolyta, Orion from New Genesis. John even convinced some of his friends from the Green Lantern corps to come as well. Even though the Lantern corps hadn't worked too closely with Batman, they had heard of his legendary bravery from both John and Superman and felt that they should honor him at his final resting place.

Soon enough the day was here. Diana was in her room, dressed in Amazon royal guard. She looked at herself in the mirror for a short while before closing her eyes and tilting her head down.

She felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned and opened her eyes to see her mother smiling at her. Despite the circumstance, she conjured up a smile as well.

"I must admit, there hasn't been a good deal of men in my life that I've been glad to meet. He on the other hand was among the noblest and bravest I've ever met" Hippolyta said.

Diana gave a little smile as a teardrop fell from her eye. Hippolyta, being a mother, reached her hand up and wiped it off. Despite her mother banishing her from her Themyscira, she always felt like she would always be there for her. She felt like a little girl again.

Superman appeared by her open door and looked to the two Amazonians. Both of them turned to face the Man of Steel.

"...It's time to go" He said.

Diana sighed. It was time to say goodbye.

* * *

_*Outside the Gotham City Cathedral, 6:30PM*_

"_This is Vicki Vale, reporting for the Gotham City Evening news. Thousands of people all across Gotham have come to say their final respects to the Dark Knight. While the Batman has drawn many mixed opinions over the years, there's no doubt that he's given many people in this city hope and are very sad to see him part from this world"_ Vicki Vale said into a camera. She was one of the many reporters on the scene. Many people from all across the evening news platforms were there including Snapper Carr.

As said by Vale, many people across Gotham gathered around as a casket that had a Bat-Symbol specially carved into the wood was carried towards the Cathedral slowly. The people holding the caskets were Nightwing, Batgirl, Robin, Superman, Diana and Green Lanterns John Stewart, Katma Tui and Kilowag also helped carry the casket with their power rings. They carried their power rings inside the cathedral.

Inside, the rows of benches were filled with people, heroes and loved ones of Batman. Alfred sat a few benches behind the Bat-Family. He wanted to sit closer but knew he shouldn't connect the dots to Bruce Wayne and Batman or else it would connect Nightwing to Dick Grayson and Robin to Tim Drake.

Commissioner Gordon was there as well, close to the front row as well as Sgt. Montoya and even Detective Bullock even though they didn't always have the best relationship.

There was one guest who technically was invited as it was a public event but was certainly unwelcome: Lex Luthor.

"What are you doing here, Luthor? Come to see a member of the Justice League buried? I assume you're happy about this, aren't you?!" Lois practically spit at Luthor when she noticed he was here. Lois and Batman were close once and Lois now considered him a good friend so his death was rather personal to her.

"Believe it or not, I respected him. While his intellect was beneath mine, he was the only superhero that came close to matching it" Luthor simply said and went to take a seat.

The event continued as expected and almost everyone had taken their seats. However, the doors to Cathedral opened once more. Everyone turned to see who it was.

Members of the Bat-Family and Superman had their mouths wide open and their eyes widened. In walked an old man. Beside him, a tall beautiful woman with long dark hair.

"What is he doing here?" Robin asked.

Nightwing stood from his seat and practically stomped towards the old man and sneered at him. The old man in question was indifferent to this reaction.

"Ra's Al Ghul" Nightwing said, almost growling.

"Nightwing" The head of the League of Assassins said with his daughter, Talia al Ghul by his side.

"You have a lot of nerve showing up here. After everything you put him through" Nightwing said.

"Nightwing, I'm not here to quarrel with you or any other hero here. I came here to pay my respects to the detective" Ra's said.

"Really? I find that hard to believe" Nightwing said.

Ra's sighed. "Believe what you will. I always respected the detective and hoped one day, he would view my noble cause for what it was and take my place when I passed. Also, my precious daughter Talia wished to come"

Nightwing glared at Ra's before Talia stepped in front of him.

"Please, Nightwing, he speaks true. I only wish to say goodbye to my beloved. Please allow us to participate" Talia said in her thick Arabic voice.

Diana narrowed her eyes at this woman. Beloved?

Nightwing looked into her eyes and could see the sincerity in her eyes. Although her actions in the past of constantly betraying her 'beloved' in favor of her father over and over showed her loyalty to her father above all, he could always tell she had feelings for his former mentor. Some feelings, at least.

"...Fine...just leave me and my family alone after this" Nightwing said then moved back to his seat beside Batgirl.

Diana turned to Flash. "Did you hear what she said? Beloved?"

Flash shrugged. "Bats was a ladies man. Who knew?"

Diana's blood started to boil in small doses of jealousy. Just what kind of relationship did Bruce have with this woman?

Soon enough, she just decided to let it go. The funeral began and Superman was called up to make his speech.

"...Days ago, we didn't just lose a teammate. We lost a hero...a friend…a loved one. Batman wasn't an outspoken hero. He didn't talk with the Press, he accept keys to the cities, he didn't interact with the common man or woman but that didn't matter to him. Fame was never something he wanted out of being a hero. He wanted to be a hero to better the lives of those around him and he succeeded. He gave the city of Gotham hope when it was believed to be swallowed by crime, run by mobsters and controlled by supervillains.

In the past few years, he expanded that hope by being alongside me and the rest of my colleagues, a co-founder of the Justice League. From there, he lead with strength, honor and courage beyond the likes of which anyone could ever imagine.

While today, we say goodbye to our dear friend, we must remember the lesson he taught us that justice is not simply taking vengeance. It's about making sure that every child can go to school safely every day, that a man won't be murdered for the contents of a wallet, that no man, woman or child will go to bed at night worried about the possibility of not waking up the next morning. He was the leader of a crusade that lives on in every single one of us. So while we lay our knight to rest, let us remember a famous quote of his: '_It is not who I am underneath but what I do that defines me'_. Let us define ourselves by doing what we can to continue his vision of a safe environment for people everywhere"

* * *

_*1 hour later*_

It was a rainy evening as the empty casket was placed down a hole in the ground in the middle of Robinson park. Beside his grave was a 20 foot statue of the Batman. Engraved on the bottom was:

"_The Batman: Gotham's Greatest Hero" _

People all around gathered for a short time to pay their final respects to the fallen soldier. About 10 minutes later, people started to leave. One by one until it was just members of the Bat-Family and the Justice League.

Diana turned her head. She could see Ra's Al Ghul and his daughter leaving and gave the woman a glare behind her back.

Soon enough, the members of the Justice League except Diana left, leaving only her and the Bat-Family: The three vigilante kids and the elderly butler.

Nightwing was kneeling to the ground with his hand on the edge the soil that had been buried on top of the casket. Robin was sniffling and wiping away tears coming down from his mask. Batgirl simply lowered her head in respect of her closest friend.

Alfred stood beside Diana as she looked upon the statue the city honored him with. He finally spoke up to say something to her.

"You know, I knew the master ever since he was in diapers" Alfred said.

Diana let out a smile on that. Boy, would that be a sight to behold.

"With every passing day since the untimely demise of his mother and father, he grew up to be a man of principle and would do anything he could to make sure no other child would live to lose what he lost all those years ago" Alfred said.

"Yes. He would" Diana said begrudgingly. That was clear enough from the other day.

"While I didn't agree with all the measures he took, I would smile whenever I saw a family cross the street into the city park. I knew that it was in part to him making sure all the vermin of Gotham were where they belonged: incarcerated. It's not much but I think he would've been proud if he had seen all he had accomplished and I'm sure he would've preferred you living the best life you could, proud and happy" Alfred said with a smile.

Diana turned and smiled towards Alfred.

"Thank you, Alfred...I only wished I told him how I felt about him before it was too late" Diana said, slightly grimacing.

Alfred looked with pity into the Amazonian princess but decided to incorporate any levity he could into the situation.

"It might not make you feel better, Madam Diana but you probably couldn't have tamed him anyway. He was a stubborn little bat" Alfred said.

Diana let out a muffled laugh. Obviously, this wasn't making her feel any better but decided that Alfred was probably right. Bruce wouldn't have wanted to see her like this. He would have wanted her to be happy in any way she could. So she decided for his sake, she would try her best to maintain a positive attitude for the future even as she just laid her best friend to rest

After a few more minutes, an explosion was seen at a nearby bank and maniacal laughing could be heard. That laugh belonged to one and only one person (If you can even call him a person).

Nightwing stood up from grieving and turned to where the explosion occurred. He turned to Batgirl and Robin.

"For old time's sake?" Nightwing asked.

Batgirl nodded and gave a slight smile. "You know it"

"I'm in" Robin said.

Nightwing turned to Wonder Woman. "Would you like to join us, Diana? We could use some extra hands"

Diana paused before nodding. "Of course"

The 4 of them started running towards to fight the never ending battle between justice and crime, leaving Alfred to himself. He'd hoped Master Timothy won't stay out too long. He did have school early the next morning after all.


	4. Chapter 4

_**(A/N: I do not own the DCAU. That right belongs to Warner Bros.)**_

* * *

The Joker was called many things: the Clown Prince of Crime, a dangerous psychopath bent on death and destruction, an evil being with no respect for his fellow human being, all sorts of things but there was nothing that described him more accurately than: Flat Broke.

Even though he was the Joker, he still needed money. He needed to buy certain...resources he needed in order to bring down a dose of laughing gas that onto the entire city.

His goons were dragging out carts of hundred dollar bills wrapped in plastic wrap.

"Come on, come on! Hurry it up. Time waits for no one. I want to see the smiles on Gotham's faces. After all, seeing them all sad today was a real downer" Joker said.

"Yeah, get it going. When Mr. J wants something now, you get it to him now" Harley Quinn said, shooting up a Tommy gun up at the bank ceiling.

The Joker laughed at the thought of the smiles he was going to see in the river of corpses running all over Gotham. What a side it would be and no doubt it would cheer him up...

Just as the money was just beginning to stack up, a voice rang out "Having some money issues, Joker?"

The Joker and his goons looked and saw the three members of the Bat-Family: Nightwing, Batgirl and Robin.

"This is becoming a trend for you, isn't it?" Batgirl asked.

Joker let out a smile. "Oh, goodie. The Bat kiddies are here. Now we get to have some real fun"

He pulled out his gun and pointed it out at three young heroes.

"Really, if this is what I have to deal with now on a regular basis, Gotham's going to be having a lot more fun" Joker said after letting out another maniacal laugh. As he was about to shoot, something metal twirled towards him and knocked the gun out of his hand. He shook his hand off from the pain from the collision.

"Ah! What the-?!" Joker asked, angrily as he saw the piece of metal turned out to be a tiara and the perpetrator of this act was the one and only Wonder Woman. She put the tiara back on her head and gave the clown a deep glare.

"You're going to put away that money, Joker and then you're going to come quietly back with us to Arkham before we have to take…drastic measures" Wonder Woman said in a low tone of voice.

Joker let out a smirk. "Well well, Wonder Woman. How odd it is to see you here in Gotham but really, it doesn't matter. This is going to end up with me laughing all the way to the bank"

Harley scratched her head. "Uh...Mr. J...we're already in a bank"

Joker growled and turned towards Harley. "It's an expression, you nimrod"

The Clown shoved Harley in a rough manner.

"You seem rather chipper tonight, Joker. No doubt you're happy about today?" Robin asked.

Joker turned towards the Bat-Family and Wonder Woman and gave them a frown.

"Happy? No, of course not. I'm not happy at all. The Bat dying last week was the worst bit of news I heard in years. Do you remember when he was supposed to be killed by that pipsqueak? What was his name? 'Sid the Squid' or something like that? I was devastated when everyone thought he died. I even held him a funeral of my own" Joker explained.

"Why's that? He was your enemy, was he not?" Wonder Woman asked.

"He made life interesting. The cycle of it was like this: I come up with some scheme, I go through with it, he shows up, we have a few laughs and then this game of ours starts all over again. That's how life was for years and it was fun! Now, I hardly even know what to do with myself anymore. It's like I've said for years now: 'Without Batman, Crime has no punchline'" Joker said.

What he said was true. If the Batman was ever to die, Joker wanted it to be by his hand, not by anyone else's. It was supposed to be poetic. His last breath was supposed to be of him with a smile on his face and laughing from one of his jokes...or his toxic laughing gas but still: it was supposed to be laughing.

What that bastard Toyman did was no fun at all. There was no imagination, no heart, no fun at all. It was just another one of his stupid deadly toy gimmicks. After he was done with his plot here, he would march straight to Metropolis, break into Stryker's Island and kill that man-child himself for taking away an honor that was rightfully his.

"So then what are you doing here? Surely, this isn't just because you want money" Nightwing asked.

"Oh, my dear bird boy. This dear old clown cried today and in order to be laughing again, I need to make Gotham laughing again and to do that, I need money for some...gags" Joker said.

"You mean chemicals for your toxin" Nightwing said, narrowing his eyes.

"Among other things, yes. So why don't you all run along so we can prepare for the show? You'll live longer" Joker said. Despite the situation of having 4 superheroes in the room with them (One of them being Wonder Woman), he was still grinning and he had a perfect explanation why.

"Well that's not going to happen, Joker. You're going back to Arkham Asylum and if you want all your bones to be in tact in your cell, you'll put the money back and come with us" Wonder Woman threatened while hovering in the air.

"Don't tell the boss what to do, Wonder Bimbo!" Harley said to the Amazonian Warrior. She held her Tommy gun pointed at the princess.

"Knock it off, Harley! You see, Wondy, with all the superheroes in town today, I knew this little endeavor of mine would be risky. So…I called for some backup" Joker said with a sly grin on his face.

As he said this, vines came from out of nowhere and started wrapping themselves tightly around the heroes.

Poison Ivy appeared from a giant flower that bloomed in the center of the bank.

"Pammy! It's so good to see ya'. How've you been?" Harley practically shouted at her best friend.

"Hi Harley" Poison Ivy said, rolling her eyes.

A wall was smashed on one side of the bank and inside came Bane, the masked wrestler with super strength powered by venom strength. Behind him, a giant moving mound of clay swirled in beside him and came together to form Clayface.

"As you can see, you're quite outmatched, amigos" Bane said with a smirk.

"So you say" Wonder Woman said. She easily broke free from Ivy's vines using her super strength and flew towards the giant wrestler and punched him in the face. He stepped back a few feet and composed himself. He pressed the red button in the center of his belt and more venom was injected into his body as his muscles grew.

The giant Santa Priscan grabbed the Amazon warrior and threw her above his shoulder. She smashed against the wall and fell to the ground.

Nightwing used one of his birdarangs to cut the vines and he was let free. Using his martial arts skills, he used another to quickly cut free Robin and Batgirl. They all ran towards the gang of Gotham supercriminals.

Nightwing ran towards Harley Quinn and began to fight her. The Clown may have just been a psychiatrist before she became Harley Quinn but she was trained in gymnastics so she did know how to fight.

"Quinn, when are you going to learn that Joker doesn't care about you? He only sees you as a bodyguard" Nightwing said, trying to reason with her.

"Shut up! My puddin' loves me more than that batbrain loved you. Bet he never even told you a bedtime story, huh birdbrain?" Harley injected.

Nightwing grew angry at this but he shouldn't allow her to get into his head. That was a trick her kind always played on him and the rest of the Bat-Family. He continued to fight her with his head clear of any distractions. If there was one thing Bruce taught him, it was to stay focused on his goal.

Robin put his attention on Poison Ivy. The beautiful botanist turned killer whose powers were based on controlling plants taunted the small hero.

"Why don't you come here and give Poison Ivy a big kiss, little bird? You'll be able to join your dear old dad soon enough" Ivy asked with a devious smirk.

Robin breathed in and out before throwing a birdarang at her. She deflected it with one of her vines.

"Feisty one, aren't we? I like meat bags with a little bit of bite in them before I feed them to my babies" Poison Ivy said, referring to her giant Venus Flytraps.

She waved her hand and vines grew from the ground. Robin flipped over and dove his legs into Ivy's stomach, knocking her down to the ground.

She got up and and had a nasty look on her face.

"You dirty little brat. I'm going to enjoy finishing you off" Poison Ivy snarled.

Batgirl was using her time fighting Clayface.

"Give it up little girl. You got lucky at Christmas. There's no skating rink near here and I faced off with the Justice League since then" Clayface said with a grin.

"And was humiliated in that scheme if I recall, correctly?" Batgirl asked with a smirk on her face.

"Funny" Clayface said, annoyed.

He melded his hand into the shape of a giant hammer and attempted to smash it onto Batgirl. She flipped away and got little pellets from her belt. She threw them to the ground and gas started to emerge from the inside.

Clayface suddenly had trouble moving.

"Wha-what are you doin'? What is that?" The former movie actor asked.

"Oh just a little something that emits tetrafluoroethane into the area's atmosphere, yours to be more precise. You should start feeling the effects rather shortly" Batgirl said.

Clayface fell to the ground as his legs froze up. His legs cracked clean off from his body but he soon recovered as he melded back together again a few feet from the pellets.

He had a look of pure anger on his face.

"That's it! I've had enough of you punk kids" Clayface said.

He shoved his two arms forward and multiple vine like clay forms shot out. They grabbed onto Batgirl, Nightwing Robin and Wonder Woman. He held them tight and brought them closer together towards him.

The four heroes struggled to get loose but the clay under Clayface's control was too strong, even for Wonder Woman to break free.

The other villains gathered around them. Joker laughed as he walked towards them.

"I have to admit, this gave me a good laugh seeing all of you fight like you did, giving everything you got. Shame it has to end like this, though. I'd rather you see me bring all the smiles to Gotham before I'd make you laugh yourself to death but given you Bat's and your escape-y ways, I don't really have a choice" Joker said. He pulled out a gun from behind his back and pointed it to Nightwing's head.

Nightwing remained calmed even though he was terrified.

"Say your prayers, Nighty-wing. Say hi to Bats for me. Tell him I miss him" Joker said with an evil grin.

As he was about to pull the trigger, a red figure zoomed in and the gun disappeared from Joker's hand.

"What?!" Joker exclaimed as he looked around. He turned to see the Justice League standing by the Bank entrance.

"Looking for this, Joker?" Flash said, presenting the gun. He threw it aside.

"Took you long enough" Diana said.

"We were worried after you didn't come back for a while. Obviously for good reason. Now Clayface, would be so kind as to release my friends?" Superman said. He used his heat vision to carve out the four heroes from Clayface's grip.

"Ah!" Clayface said in pain as the clay mounds holding the Bat Family and Wonder Woman fell to the ground and dissolved, releasing them.

Hawkgirl let out a yell as she flew to Bane and knocked him Poison Ivy. They both flew into a wall.

Clayface formed another hammer from his hand. As he was about to smash it into Superman, he used his freezing breath. The freezing air froze Clayface solid.

The Man of Steel moved his attention towards Joker. He walked towards him when Harley Quinn flipped in front of him.

"Don't move another step, Soup man" Harley said.

Wonder Woman stepped up and lifted Harley up by the scruff of her clown suit and threw her aside. There was nothing left standing in between of the Justice League/Bat-Family and the Joker now.

The Joker wasn't known to give up a fight or have an escape plan but given he us up against the entire Justice League instead of the Bat and one of his cronies, he just gave a sigh.

"Really? Do you actually think this makes a difference? The Bat is gone now. Gotham is in free range and you goody two shoes aren't always going to be around to help these brats" Joker said.

"Believe me, Joker, we'll make time. We always do" Superman said. He punched Joker in the face and he fell to the ground, out cold.

The heroes gathered the villains and Wonder Woman tied them up with her lasso. Clayface was still frozen solid a few feet away from them.

Suddenly, Police sirens came about and there were soon dozens of police officers coming into the bank, gathering the villains. They obtained the villains and detained them into police vans to be taken back to Arkham.

"Thanks for the help. With the...current situation, I was worried it was going to be a rough one" Commissioner Gordon said in a sad voice but also showing a hint of relief.

"No need to thank us, Commissioner" Superman said.

"It's kind of weird seeing all of you 'ere. You ain't ever were around Gotham before" Detective Bullock said.

"Well...Bats was kind of territorial about Gotham" Flash said.

"Yeah, he was. I remember one time I tried to help him out with Mr. Freeze one time. Believe me, after that one talk we had afterward, I never tried to come back again" Green Lantern said.

"Well...I don't think you'll have that problem no more" Bullock said, turning around and walking out of the bank. One could see the sad expression on his face. While he didn't always like the Bat doing his job, he always appreciated the help and somewhat considered him a friend.

Commissioner Gordon sighed. "It's going to be a hell of a lot different without him around...anyway, I gotta get the inmates back to Arkham. Thanks again"

Gordon walked away. Barbara would have hugged and kissed him goodbye but she was still Batgirl for the time being. Anyway, she felt he probably had to be alone right now.

It was a morbid feeling among the League even though they had stopped the Joker and the rest of the criminals, it just didn't feel like a victory. Them doing Batman's job just sealed the deal for them that Batman was truly gone.

Every one of them looked to the ground with solemn expressions on their faces. It wasn't going to be easy living without him but this was just the first step of a long and painful process.


	5. Chapter 5

**_(A/N: I do not own the DCAU. That right belongs to Warner Bros.)_**

* * *

The Dark Knight's eyes opened. He rubbed his eyes and tried to get up but couldn't. He soon realized that a giant rock was pressing on his chest. The rock was placed off his chest in no time as Batman took hold of it and moved it off. He got up and wiped himself off the dirt.

He soon came to the stunning realization that he was alive. He wasn't disintegrated, he was still whole. He was breathing, walking and his heart was still beating.

Batman looked around and saw somewhat strange sights: Circle like boulders with cars and what looked to be parts of buildings.

It took very little time to realize that what he was looking at were parts of Metropolis that Toyman had 'disintegrated' in the League's battle with him and the rest of the Metropolis Supercriminals.

"_A teleporter" _Batman thought. Toyman didn't build a dis-integrator like everyone thought it was, it was a teleporter of some kind. A Teleporter to where though?

Batman guessed he was on another planet of some kind. An uninhabited, barren wasteland of a planet with no living soul other than him in sight. He looked up and saw that this planet was orbiting around a red sun.

"_Wouldn't Clark just love this planet?" _Batman thought.

"Hello! Is anyone there?" Batman tried calling out but it was no use. He was calling out to no one. However, he was still receiving the League's homing beacon. They must have been transported here by Toyman as well.

He pressed his hand over his comlink and said "Batman to Justice League. Toyman transported us to a planet with a red sun. He must have made a lapse of judgment in inventing it. I'm getting a reading of the homing beacon but I'm not close enough to your position where I can get audio. I'll try to move closer so we can get a clear transmission and also Superman, try not to do anything you would normally do as your powers are probably not working right now. If you're around them, leaving the heavy lifting to Lantern or Diana. Otherwise, just try to find us anyway you can"

With that, he ended his message. He looked around. Clearly, his Batwing wasn't anywhere to be found on this planet so he'd have to improvise. A car that looked somewhat functional caught his eye and walked towards it. He pulled a lockpick from his utility belt and inserted it into the lock on the trunk of the car.

A few seconds later, he pulled out the contents of the trunk which included two full jerrycans of gas, a car battery, a rope and a toolbox. Clearly the owner of this automobile was prepared for any circumstance. Even Batman was impressed.

He grabbed a couple of newspapers from a nearby newspaper stand that was also transported here, a couple of water bottles and some candy bars from the stand and gathered them all in the back seat of the car. The Dark Knight got inside, hotwired the ignition and started to drive. Oh, if only the people of Gotham could see the one and only Batman driving an actual car instead of the Batmobile. Thankfully, Batman could spare himself the humiliation.

Hours went by and Miles went on and Batman saw no sign of his teammates nor any sight of human life for that matter. Just what appeared to be some sort of never ending barren wasteland. He still wasn't close enough to their position where he could communicate with them through comlink.

Soon night fell and Batman decided to stop and rest for the night. He parked inside a small cave. For the first time, he saw what looked to be plant life on this planet. There were wooden branches surrounding the entire cave. Batman pulled off some branches and twigs and piled them up in one area of the cave.

He then grabbed medium sized rocks all around the cave and gathered them in circle form in the center of the cave. He placed half of the sticks and twigs in the middle of the rocks. The rocks being in circle form would contain a fire for him so he could heat himself from the cave's coolness.

He poured some gasoline from one of the jerrycans onto the wood and lit it with a lighter from his utility belt. Flames arose to form a campfire.

Batman removed his cape and covered himself with it and slowly began to go to sleep.

* * *

_*1 hour later*_

A noise woke Batman from his short but sweet slumber. The noise appeared to be a growl of some kind. He looked up and saw that at the top of the cave was an opening outside and beside the opening were several creatures that appeared to be a combination of a wolf and a tiger. These creatures had red fur, green eyes, sharp teeth and what appeared to be horns growing from the top of their heads down their backside. He looked down and saw that there were those creatures hiding beneath the wood around the cave as well, growling.

Being the cool, calm collected figure he was, he slowly move up and carefully stepped back towards the wood pile. He grabbed a large piece and moved it inside the fire, making a torch.

"Back away!" Batman said, throwing the torch into the wood, causing it to set on the fire and the creatures to scatter, screeching. He quickly grabbed another one and put it to the fire. He threw the other torch up towards the opening of the cave. It fell on the ground around the creatures, forming a fire in their area. They scattered just as the creatures below did.

Batman sighed in relief. Clearly he was going to need to be more careful going forward. It was clear now that neither he nor his teammates were the only living creatures on this planet.

He needed a better weapon to protect himself. He could usually handle himself pretty well if he knew what he was going up against but given that this new planet was foreign to him, he needed to take extra care so he didn't get too injured.

He pulled out a mallet from the trunk of the car and took a large stick and held it to the fire. After it got hot enough, he started hammering away at the wooden branch.

What seemed like hours passed on as Batman keep smashing away until he had forged an iron bar. He had used a nearby rock to sharpen it. When he was finished, he had fashioned a crude but effective sword. He hadn't touched anything like this since his days as a martial arts student and quite frankly, it didn't feel right. A sword was a deadly weapon that could easily be used to kill people if used wrong. However, he felt that it was necessary as a backup in case he ran into something like those creatures.

The Dark Knight got back in the car and started to drive off after refilling the gas tank with the remainder of his jerrycans. He had decided to use the car as his home for the time being so he wasn't killed in his sleep by a wild wolf-cat like animal.

Day after day went by and there was no sign of anything. No civilization, no Justice League, no anything. Just a never ending desert. It had been so long that a full beard had grown onto Batman's face.

"Batman to Justice League. Can you read me?" Batman asked through his comlink. He still got nothing. They were still too far away.

It made no sense. They surely should have made contact by now. It practically wasn't possible for them to be that far from each other, especially with J'ohns ability to track people through their minds. Something must have been tampering with their comlink or someone rather. He just needed to rely on his instincts for the moment.

Soon one night, the engine to the car finally ran out of gas and Batman had no more jerrycans to fill the car with. The car came to a complete stop as the meter reached E. Batman groaned. He got out of the car with the rest of his supplies neatly in a bag and started to walk away.

As his luck over the past few days would have it, he heard a familiar sound. He turned around to see those same creatures from days ago coming from behind the car. They must have either been following him while he slept in the car or maybe there were more of them around. Either way, he needed to think of something.

He reached for his grappling gun to use on a platform near him. As he felt nothing there, he suddenly remembered. He made a quick reminder to himself to always carry around a spare.

Batman removed the sword from his belt and wielded it in a prepared formation as the creatures surrounded him.

"Heal!" He ordered to the rabid beasts. As expected, that didn't exactly convince them.

One of them, one with fur with a red shade in contrast to the brown furred creatures (The Alpha, probably) jumped towards Batman. Batman easily flipped him over to a wall of rock but more came and soon he was getting overpowered. He was getting bitten on his arms and legs. His suit was getting torn apart. They also managed to knock his sword from his hand to the ground a few feet away.

However, Batman managed to hold his own against the creatures. He picked up one and threw him towards the pack, knocking them all away. He ran away from them and saw the mallet he used before lying on the ground. He picked it up and turned back to the wolf pack who were racing towards him.

Batman swung his mallet at one wolf after another, knocking them all down with them whimpering in the process. Soon, while the wolves stayed down, he managed to walk over and grab his sword too. He soon had a sword in one hand and a mallet in the other.

The wolves surrounded him again. However, the brown shaded wolves stepped back, conceding defeat to Batman. However, the Alpha of the group: The red shaded wolf, wasn't giving up. He surrounded Batman and circled him with the Dark Knight doing the same.

"Just you, huh? Well then. Give me your best shot" Batman taunted.

The red wolf leaped towards Batman while Batman swung his mallet at him, instigating another fight.

* * *

_*A few hours later*_

As the red sun rose to signify another morning, Batman was the victor in the fight against the red wolf and while the Dark Knight usually held a sacred code to never kill, that applied mainly to humans, not wild animals. With that, he fashioned a new cape and boots from the wolf's skin to replace his battered armor and the wolves followed him. He was the new alpha of their pack.

He cut the seats from the car and made a sled. He tied the ropes from before around the wolves' mouths and used them to guide his sled to replace the car. The day went on with Batman continuing his search for his teammates and a way off this godforsaken planet. He could just imagine the laughs he would get from them when they saw him dressed like he was. He couldn't even shave his beard.

At night, he stopped to rest and made a campfire. He cooked what remained of the red wolf for himself and the other wolves. He threw a chunk of cooked meat to them and they were on it like they hadn't eaten for days and considering the lack of food there was on this planet, that was a realistic possibility.

Batman sat down on his 'sled' and said through his comlink "I'm getting a stronger reading so that must mean we're getting closer. If we're lucky, I'll see you all tomorrow and we can start finding our way home"

With that, he used his new wolfskin cape and fell asleep on his 'sled'

* * *

_*The next morning*_

Batman rode his custom sled down a snow-covered path until he had reached a cliff. His transmission through his comlink was getting clearer so that must have meant he was getting closer to his teammates. He released the wolves from their bondage and shooed them away, signifying that their short lived relationship had come to an end. One looked behind him when running away but continued to follow his pack soon enough.

Batman groaned. He wished he could just glide down but without his cape that had been torn from the fight with the wolves the other night, he was stuck going down the actual mountain. With his martial arts skills, he was able to get down smoothly (Albeit the occasional scratch here and there) until he reached the bottom of the cliff and what he saw surprised him.

It was a forest and there were trees, actual trees with leaves and there were large mushrooms as well. It was the liveliest part of this planet he'd seen yet.

As he was walking through the forest, he could see something walking behind the trees and he could tell it wasn't one of his teammates.

Being the skeptic, he pulled out his sword from his belt and walked towards the area where he saw this new creature. He looked through the trees and bushes and saw what looked to be a giant dung beetles, eating a corpse of what appeared to be one of their own. Batman slowly stepped back, seeing that this wasn't a fight he wanted to get into. He continued his original path through the forest.

After about 30 more minutes of walking through the forest, his transmission seemed to be clear as day but for some odd reason, he wasn't getting a reading. He closed his eyes and tried to contact J'ohn telepathically.

"_J'ohn. J'ohn. Can you hear me?" _Batman thought, hoping the martian would hear him but it didn't seem like anyone knew where he was. As he walked, he stepped over a large root and saw something that made his jaw drop.

It was the watchtower, the watchtower where the members of the team went on missions together, worked together, talked together, it was practically their home away from home. It was sent down from their earth orbit onto this planet and it looked horrible. It looked smashed, bent and there were tears all over it.

"No….NO!" Batman yelled at the top of his lungs. He ran to the watchtower Javelin opening.

The identifier scanned Batman and said "_Comlink 01 recognized. Authorized User, Batman. Access Granted"_

The gates opened and Batman ran inside. He didn't know how this could be but their must have been something that knocked the watchtower out of orbit when they were fighting Metropolis' most wanted criminals...However, the insides suggested that this was already here for a long while.

There were tree branches growing from inside the tower along with bushes, fungus, even some flowers here and there. He went to the control room of the tower and ran to the main computer. He pressed the commands to switch it on. Thankfully, the watchtower was still functional.

He pressed the command key to open a locator program that would locate each member of the League by their comlink. Images of the members of the League showed up and every one of their locations (Except Batman) showed up to be unknown. All of them. Even honorary members like Aquaman's location were unknown.

"_Warning. Watchtower running on reserve power. System sleep in 30 seconds" _The computer said.

"Override" Batman said. He let out a yell and punched into the controls.

"What happened?! Where are they?! Why aren't they showing up in the system?!" Batman asked with great frustration.

"That's because they're dead, Batman. They died thousands of years ago" A voice said. A familiar voice.

Batman turned and out from a shadow came the one and only immortal being of Earth: Vandal Savage.


	6. Chapter 6

_**(A/N: I do not own the DCAU. That right belongs to Warner Bros.)**_

* * *

"Savage" Batman said with a glare.

"It's good to see you, Batman and I'm not being sarcastic. I'm really not. I've been kind of lonely" Savage said.

"It's been a while. Last time I saw you was your little stunt in Kaznia" Batman said, distastefully recalling his plot with Princess Audrey.

"Indeed. It has been a long time though it's been longer for me than you" Savage said. He looked around the Watchtower.

"What a beauty this place was. It was your design I believe. One of your best works, I must say. It only went out of orbit around 75 years ago" Savage said.

"I'm not interested in small talk, Savage. Tell me what I want to know" Batman demanded, getting straight to business.

"Well as I'm sure you probably figured out-" Savage said before Batman cut him off.

"This is Earth" Batman said, coming to a devastating realization.

"Yes. it is. Thousands of years into your future. That idiot Toyman never really understood what he built. The dis-integrator beam was really an energized tacchian stream and that's what sent you into the future. Of course naturally though when you disappeared, everyone thought you died but here you are" Savage said, coming close to Batman. He put his hands on his shoulders.

"Hello" Savage said in a way that indicated he was very happy to see him.

"I'm the first person you've talked to in a long while, aren't I?" Batman asked.

"You have no idea. There are times I spend months without talking. As a matter of fact, it's been 6 months since I last talked before speaking to you" Savage said.

Batman roughly removed Savage's hands from his shoulders.

"How did you get here, Savage?" Batman asked.

"I'm immortal, remember? I just waited a long,long, _long_ time" Savage said. He turned with his back faced Batman.

"I'm the last remaining survivor of the human race. Well….second to last" Savage said, turning his head to Batman with a smirk on his face.

"The people. They're all-?" Batman asked before Savage cut him off.

"Gone...every one of them" Savage said. Batman stayed silent, not knowing what to say about this.

"Come. Follow me and I'll tell you all about it" Savage said. He started walking towards the exit of the Watchtower. Batman, not knowing what else to do, reluctantly followed.

As they were walking towards the hall to the exit, Savage explained that he got Batman's comm signal a few weeks ago and said he would have answered but didn't really think that he would want to talk. After all, he was an enemy of the Justice League after all.

"Hey. While you're here, why don't you come over to my house for dinner? You could even spend the night" Savage offered.

Batman raised an eyebrow and wondered whether this maniac was even serious.

"Come on. I'm lonely and you're probably starving. It's what most people would call a win-win situation, right?" Savage asked.

Batman sighed. He figured why not. He didn't know whether or not this was some trick by Savage or not but right now, he was the only source of information he was going to get. He agreed to dinner.

They both walked out of the Watchtower and out of the forest. Savage led the way towards his home.

* * *

_*An hour later*_

They walked through what appeared to be a city (Well, what used to be a city). It was completely devastated by what appeared to be a nuclear radiation of some kind. That must explain the mutated wolves and large bugs crawling about Earth.

"I was thinking it was best I show you this before we go inside" Savage said.

Soon, Batman was able to piece together what city this was. It was all too familiar.

"Wait a minute…this is Gotham" Batman said.

"For someone who's supposedly been dead for millennia Batman, your detective skills are still sharp" Savage said.

They continued walking until something caught Batman's eye. In the distance, he could see a large broken rock formation of….him. He started walking towards it. Savage noticed and followed him.

Batman stopped a few feet in front of it. It was what appeared to be a statue of him from the waist up (Broken no doubt). Behind the statue was rubble but he could see what appeared to be a platform under it. He moved behind the statue and cleared off the rubble above it. The cleared rubble showed what appeared to be a podium. In the center he could read the words "_The Batman: Gotham's Greatest Hero"_

"This was their shrine to you after your 'death'. The funeral was quite lovely, it ran all across the United States and even a few other grateful countries as well. They even sold it on DVD" Savage said.

"I never realized I was so popular" Batman said.

"Sometimes the greatest gratitudes are left unsaid, Bruce" Savage said.

Batman turned and his eyes widened at Savage's comments. He got in a defensive formation.

"What?!" Batman asked.

"Oh come on, Batman, it wasn't hard to put it together. After your death, Bruce Wayne disappeared as well. The media was fanatic on figuring out what had happened to him and soon, his butler came out and said that he had apparently died in a car crash after he had apparently went off to some cocktail party in a European country and didn't take his butler. Of course given Bruce Wayne's reputation of being a fan of the drink, people bought it. However, it didn't really take me long to put two and two together" Savage said.

After a while, Batman put his arms down, deciding that it didn't really matter at the moment.

"I had to admit, I did enjoy your funeral. However, after 30,000 years I've had time to reconsider" Savage said, grimacing at the thought.

"It took you that long to figure out that you're insane?" Batman asked.

"It took me that long to figure out that my thirst for power was meaningless. Because of it, this was the end result" Savage said, gesturing to the world around him.

Batman widened his eyes but soon angrily narrowed them. "You…You did this?"

"It was a few months after your 'death' that I had constructed an invention that gave me control over gravity. With it, I would proclaim myself master of the world" Savage said.

"Really? The Justice League wouldn't have let you" Batman said.

"No. They wouldn't have. They put up quite a fight. Superman was the most difficult, as to be expected. I think I killed him right here" Savage said, pointing down to where he was standing.

Batman couldn't believe what he was hearing. His jaw dropped at this proclamation.

"Wait...no, it was over there. Well either way, I destroyed the Justice League that day. That was nice. Unfortunately though, every good thing must come to an end, it seems. With my newfound powers, I accidentally disrupted the gravitational balance of the entire solar system. This...right here is the end result" Savage said, gesturing to the red sun and a planet with a ring around it (Probably Saturn).

Batman was fuming with anger. He punched Savage in the jaw. He was hit back a few feet. Batman leaped towards him and started giving him a round of punches and kicks until he was on the ground. He grabbed a spare Batarang from his belt he kept for emergencies and held the sharp end to Savage's neck.

"I should tear your head off with this" Batman said.

"Quite odd given your M.O. Besides, we both know it wouldn't work" Savage said.

After a few seconds of holding him down to the ground with his Batarang one push away from piercing Savage's neck, Batman removed it and he placed it back in his belt.

Savage got up and composed himself. He wiped some dust off of his black suit.

"If it makes you feel any better, it was not the best idea I ever had" Savage said, seeming completely indifferent to the fact that he committed genocide.

"What kind of monster are you?" Batman growled.

"A hungry one. Lunch?" Savage asked with a smile.


	7. Chapter 7

_**(A/N: I do no own the DCAU. That right belongs to Warner Bros.)**_

* * *

"Sorry about the mess. I tried to tidy up a bit. As you can tell, it's been a while since I had visitors" Savage said, chopping up a squash like vegetable while Batman looked around.

He had to admit, the 'house' that Savage had built was quite impressive. It was a house with a cylinder like structure. He could see all the floors and the contents of those floors. Floor after floor, he could see antique cars, fossils, valuable artwork. It was actually quite a sight to behold, in a very begrudging admiration that Batman kept to himself.

"You did all of this?" Batman asked.

"Every last bit. I've had thousands of years to build it though I'm always looking for improvements. You have to keep busy or you'll go mad" Savage said.

"You say that as if you weren't already" Batman said, narrowing his eyes back at Savage who continued cooking.

Savage gave a smile and said nothing.

Batman studied around the floor. He saw a library section of the house with a large bookcase with numerous shelves and various different titles. 'Plato', 'The Art Of War','Ulysses', etc. He even found a self-help book called 'Coping with Yourself'.

"You don't exactly seem the type for self-help books" Batman said.

Savage shrugged. "I've got issues. Besides, I read whatever I can find. Found most of these at libraries that are still standing around the country. Anyway, Lunch is ready. I hope you're hungry"

Batman had to admit: For a post-apocalyptic world, the food still wasn't that bad. He didn't exactly know what it was. It looked like a sort of pie but it was savory. There was also bread, a salad with lettuce and tomatoes and potatoes.

"Like it? All the food is grown here. House: Garden View" Savage commanded. Suddenly, the walls went into a transparent view and it showed a garden in the backyard of Savage's house. In the back, he could see a half-finished rocket ship.

"I suppose you've had time to study agriculture….and rocket science for that matter" Batman observed.

"Yes, I was wanting to leave the planet in search for new life. Not because it was too difficult but because I felt I deserved to be punished like this" Savage said.

"Hm, who would have ever thought you would grow a conscience?" Batman asked.

"That and I wouldn't think any other lifeform would appreciate someone who destroyed a planet amongst their people" Savage said.

"You could have tried Apokolips" Batman said with a rasied eyebrow.

"Maybe but even so, I wouldn't feel right leaving after I destroyed everything. It makes me feel like I'd be running away from my own guilt" Savage said.

Batman finished his last bite and went to the sink. He turned to Savage who seemed to be finishing his meal as well.

"So….are you going to show me where I'm going to sleep?" Batman asked.

* * *

_*Hours later*_

The rest of the day went by quickly. Despite Savage being insane, he was good company (Somewhat at least).

As Savage was the last person on Earth, he didn't bother making a spare bedroom so Batman would have to spend the night on the couch while Savage would build him one in a future time.

Batman didn't sleep much. He kept staring at the ceiling. It's not that he wasn't satisfied with the couch. After weeks of sitting on a hard and cold ground, he was welcome to the new warm and soft environment. He just couldn't believe this was his life from now on. To just sit and watch the world he had long protected with his team come to ruin and spend it with the man who destroyed it in the first place.

The Dark Knight got up from the couch and looked around. He didn't really know whether he was getting up to go to the bathroom, get a drink of water or maybe find a razor to shave the god awful beard on his face, he needed to keep moving for whatever reason.

He looked at all the antiques Savage had and for what it was worth, it was quite the impressive collection. Crowns, ancient manuscripts, actual skulls of long extinct creatures. It was kind of hard to believe Savage was a collector of these things but given all the time he's had, he had to take up some new hobby.

There was really only one thing that caught Batman's eye: His grappling hook. He raised an eyebrow and walked towards his old weapon encased in glass display. Beside it was a plaque with engraves that said:

"_Found this in Wonder Woman's room on the Watchtower. This was the grappling hook Batman used to save her life...for a few more months anyway. I noticed a sort of bonding between the two of them that wasn't just a friend/colleague relationship. The fact that she kept it so close solidifies my suspicions. Shame, they would have made such a lovely couple._"

Batman raised an eyebrow to this nonsensical writing. He didn't….love Diana. It was just a friendly relationship between them. That was all. Maybe, it was somewhat more than friendly at times but it was just meaningless flirtation. That's what it was, Batman told himself. Besides, he needed to stay focused on his mission. A relationship (And a relationship with one of his own teammates, no less) would complicate that.

Deciding to reclaim what was his, he smashed the glass and retrieved his grappling hook. He placed it in his usual spot in his utility belt.

Afterwards, he decided to continue looking around Savage's house. He had to admit, this was probably one of the most impressives pieces of architecture he had ever seen in his life. It was such a shame that talent's like Savage was wasted on insane and nonsensical plots to take over the world.

He walked into a laboratory of some sort with impressive looking technologies. He soon walked into a room that had a walkway to walk appeared to be some machine. At first, he didn't know what the heck this thing was but soon he remembered how the other members of the Justice League told him how they went into the past to stop Savage in World War 2 and how they used a time machine to do it. This machine's design was exactly how they described it to him. Savage had a time machine…..

Batman ran from the room and straight to Savage's bedroom. He went to the bed and shook him.

"Savage! Wake up!" Batman practically screamed to him.

Savage woke almost immediately and asked what the problem was in a groggy manner.

"You have a time machine!" Batman said.

"...Oh yeah. I worked on it for decades then I just lost interest, I guess" Savage said.

"Why didn't you ever finish it?!" Batman asked. Did this madman not understand what he could do with it?!

"Probably just a low attention span, I guess. Besides, there's no point finishing it anyway" Savage said.

"What do you mean no point? You could go and stop yourself from destroying the Earth!" Batman said.

"No I couldn't. This design doesn't allow me to travel to a time where I already exist" Savage said.

"...But I'm dead in the past, aren't I?" Batman asked.

This caused Savage to smile a wide smile. He did have a point after all.

"Get up. We have work to do" Batman said.


	8. Chapter 8

_**(A/N: I do not own the DCAU. That right belongs to Warner Bros.)**_

* * *

Batman and Savage began tinkering with the time machine. Attaching chips, lasering circuitry until it was ready to go, according to Savage. However, there seemed to be an aura of lingering doubt around Savage that Batman sensed.

As Savage typed away on the main terminal, a vortex opened at the bottom of the machine. Batman let out a rare smile until it disappeared and the machine broke down.

Savage let out a sigh. "It's just as I feared"

"It isn't working!" Batman said.

"No, it's actually working just fine. It just doesn't have enough power" Savage explained.

"You said this entire building was powered by a hydroelectric dam" Batman said.

"And 10 dams couldn't hold a time warp open for more than a few seconds…." Savage said. He placed his hand under his chin and had a pondering look on his face.

"I assume there's another way?" Batman asked with a raised eyebrow.

Savage gave a smile that instantly worried Batman (More than he was already standing next to an immortal supercriminal).

* * *

_*30 minutes later*_

Batman and Savage were riding giant winged insects (Trained by Savage, no doubt) over the wasteland that Batman used to know as Earth.

Savage explained that 30 years back, a group of giant Roach monsters broke into his home and stole his zero-point generator which was the only power source in the world that had enough power to make Savage's time machine work. Batman asked why he couldn't make another one and as a matter of fact, Savage was working on one. It was 50 years away from completion (And that was assuming nothing went wrong in the process). As expected, Batman didn't have the time.

They rode the giant insects until Savage instructed to land them below a giant rock pillar. Apparrently, it wasthe mound where Roaches took shelter and were keeping the generator. Savage looked at it through binoculars.

"What do the roaches want with the power cell?" Batman asked.

"It's basically a minature sun. They want it to provide warmth for their central mound. It actually kind of makes me wish Superman was here with us. He might be able to absorb the radiation from it to restore his powers under this sun" Savage said.

Batman glared. "And whose fault is that?"

"I'm just saying…" Savage said.

The 50,000 year old man pulled out what appeared to be a laser gun.

"Always prepared, huh?" Batman asked.

"You're one to talk" Savage said.

Batman saw something behind Savage. It was one of the giant beetle like creatures he saw earlier today. He guessed it was one of the Roach creatures. He got out his sword from his belt and struck it's underside. It had very little effect. It just left a giant mark that didn't stop the roach's stride at all.

Savage started firing his laser gun at it and it seemed to have little effect as well. The laser kept bouncing off the roach.

Batman could see more approaching, at least half a dozen more surrounding them. Fortunately for them, it seemed like they were focused on the winged insects as they tore at them and started eating them. This left them room to sneak away while they the roaches had their way with their 'dinner'. Batman could tell this was going to be fun.

They approached an entrance into the mound. They stood to the side and hid as two other roaches came out.

Inside was a maze of paths to god only knew where. They quietly moved around the mound, trying to find the zero point generator.

Little did they know, a roach was waking from a slumber nearby and saw the two of them making their way through the mound and let out a screeching roar. That in turn, woke other neighboring roaches. Soon, roaches would be all over the mound, coming out of holes, appearing out of nowhere, moving fast towards Batman and Savage.

"Well so much for that" Batman said sarcastically.

The both of them fought them as best they could with Batman swinging at them with his sword and Savage shooting them with his gun.

Batman sliced through a roach's underside and Savage managed to break away the shell of another with his gun. However, despite their best efforts, they knew they couldn't take out the dozens more approaching them so they continued to fight until they saw a way out.

They continued running into the mound, slicing away and shooting down whatever roach came their way until they came across a giant pit with a bright light coming from inside it. Batman ran towards the pit and looked down. Through the shining light, he could see a sphere that looked to be as Savage described: A minature sun.

"Look out!" He heard Savage say. He turned around and saw a roach rampaging towards him. He was knocked down into the pit.

"Batman!" Savage cried out as he was getting dragged by three roaches. He cringed and prepared for the worst. All seemed lost until he could see what he recognized to be a Batarang delve into one of the roaches shell and suddenly, it exploded.

Savage turned and saw Batman in all his glory (As much glory in a caveman outfit and a rugged beard growing from under his mask) with his grappling gun in one hand and the generator in another.

"Wasn't expecting that, were you?" Batman asked Savage with a slight smirk under his face. Quickly, he put his grappling gun in his belt and took two more Batarangs out. He threw both of them at the remaining roaches and like the last one: it exploded. The roaches, out of fear, began to scatter away from the two men.

Savage got up and started to wipe himself of any dust on his body as Batman walked towards him.

"You couldn't have used those sooner" Savage asked, a little grudgingly.

"I only use them in dire emergencies" Batman explained.

"Well I guess that fit the definition. At least we're fine now" Savage said, finally composing himself.

The former criminal mastermind looked down at the grappling gun that he used to get out of the pit.

"I see you helped yourself to one of my artifacts" Savage observed with a smirk.

"You mean one of _my_ gadgets. I did make it after all" Batman said, narrowing his eyes.

"You or Lucius Fox?" Savage asked, still smirking.

"...Let's just get out of here" Batman said.

"Yes. Let's. You scared them away but it won't take long for them to regroup" Savage said.

"How are we going to get back to your home? The insects we took here were eaten by the roaches" Batman said.

"I know a place nearby where I found the two we were riding. There's probably more around there. It won't take long for me to train them" Savage said.

With that, Batman and Savage ran out of the mound as quickly as they could before the roaches were given the chance to get together again and come after them.


	9. Chapter 9

_**(A/N: I do not own the DCAU. That right belongs to Warner Bros.)**_

* * *

Savage led them to a forest area where there were indeed winged insects like the ones they used to fly to the roach mound. As Savage said, it didn't take him long to train two into following his orders. They used it to fly back to his house. They went back to Savage's laboratory to the time machine.

Savage placed the generator into a containment zone where he must have used the generator as an energy source for the time machine.

"This should work. Just let me work on it for a few minutes and I'll send you back a few days after you were sent away" Savage said as he began typing away on the time machine's terminal.

"How am I supposed to prevent you from doing this again?" Batman asked.

"I'm sending you back a few days before I gain my final component for my gravity controlling machine. Four days from then, I'm going to steal a piece of dwarf star matter from a scientist named Dr. Raymond Palmer. You and the rest of League will have to be there to stop me" Savage said.

"Raymond Palmer? The Atom?" Batman asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes. The very same. I actually expected you to know that. I couldn't say the same for any of your other teammates. His power is useful for many things. However, stopping a robbery isn't one of them" Savage said as he continued typing.

Batman stayed quiet for a moment before he decided to give Savage a piece of his mind on one final matter.

"I read your little plaque from the display for my grappling gun" Batman said.

Savage let out a smirk. Obviously, him knowing the Dark Knight read that didn't worry him the slightest. It just amused him.

"I was hoping you would. Tell me: Did you like it?" Savage asked.

"What are you getting at about Diana and I? She's a teammate. A dear friend of mine. Nothing more" Batman snapped.

"If you really thought that, why are you getting so defensive over it?" Savage asked.

There were few moments in Batman's life where he didn't have an answer to a question. This unfortunately was one of those times.

"I call it as I see it, Bruce. I saw something between you and Wonder Woman that I don't really see from people who are just friends. I could sense something between the two of you. Something...romantic" Savage said.

"Well you're wrong. Dead wrong" Batman spat.

"Whether or not you're attracted to Wonder Woman doesn't matter to me. Though, you're making less of a case for yourself by how angry you're getting. What is it? Afraid to tell everyone you're smitten for the Amazon Princess? Afraid to admit that the Dark Knight, the stern and ever so serious defender of Gotham...is in love?" Savage asked, turning his head towards Batman with the same smirk on his face.

Batman didn't say a word. Just gave Savage his famous glare.

"I don't blame you, you know? I've seen few women as beautiful as her and believe me, being as old as I am I've seen a lot of women in my time. Very attractive ones, too" Savage explained.

"Just get this machine working already. I'm taking a shower as soon as I get home" Batman ordered, smelling his reeking body even from under his uniform.

Savage shrugged. "As you wish"

He typed at his terminal for a few more seconds before the machine started up. A vortex opened at the bottom of the machine.

"There you are. As promised" Savage said.

"How do I know this won't send me to the back to the dinosaur age or something along those lines?" Batman asked, looking down at the vortex.

Savage rolled his eyes. "Always the cynic, aren't you? As amusing as that would be, you're my last hope for me to escape this depressing life and I can't afford to waste this opportunity"

"Makes sense" Batman said.

"Well, I guess this is it. For what's it worth, it was...kind of fulfilling, doing something good for a change" Savage said.

"Funny how that works, isn't it? Let's hope after I deal with you back in my present, you can use your talents for more constructive purposes" Batman said.

"Doubtful but I'm hoping you succeed" Savage said. He put his hand out for Batman to shake. After a few moments, Batman reached out and shook it.

"...Goodbye, Savage" Batman said. The immortal man just nodded gracefully.

After pulling apart, Batman turned to the machine and jumped into the time vortex. After a few moments, the vortex phased away. All Savage could do now was play the waiting game.

* * *

_*Present*_

The Justice League and Bat-Family walked out of the bank. They had sorrowful faces on even though they had just saved the day which was always a good feeling for them.

"Thanks again. We were close to….well, you know" Nightwing said.

"Don't mention it. Here, take these" Superman said and handed the 3 of them watches, each having a Superman symbol on the face.

"This is a signal watch. Press it when you feel like there's too much heat and I'll come see if I can cool it down for you" Superman said with a smirk.

"Also, take one of these" Hawkgirl said and handing the three bats their own personal comlinks.

"If you need help and Superman is busy on another assignment, use these to contact us" J'ohn said.

"Wow. This is so cool" Robin said, letting his inner teenager getting the best of him.

"Now don't use these recklessley. Only use them when you need to" Green Lantern said.

"Of course. Thank you all. For Everything" Nightwing said.

"Don't mention it. It's what we do" Superman said and shook hands with Nightwing.

"Now what's with all the boo hooing going on? Let's get some bad guys!" A voice said. A hyper, annoying voice that the Bat-Family unfortunately knew too well.

A man with yellow skin came down from a vantage point. He wasn't wearing a shirt but had on red gloves, red boots, green and black striped undergarments and a boa running down his back. He also had a grin that resembled the Joker's maniacal grin.

"Alright. I heard that the Joker was around with some goons. Let's get 'em" The man said with a high level of enthusiasm. He put on a devious smirk as he rubbed his hands together.

The Bat-Family groaned while the Justice League looked in disbelief at what was happening.

"I'm sorry...who are you?" Flash asked.

"Name's Creeper, kid. Don't wear it out" The Creeper said.

"Ryder, you took off your patch again, didn't you?" Nightwing asked.

"Ah, patch smatch. I don't need no stinkin' patch. Those are for sissies" Creeper said.

"It's what's keeping you out of Arkham" Nightwing said.

"Ah, come on Nighty. I didn't do anything wrong. I'm just here to help you guys" Creeper said.

"Is he a friend of yours?" Superman asked.

"Not really. A few years back, a reporter named Jack Ryder fell into a chemical vat, the same one Joker fell into many years ago. This is the result" Nightwing gestured to the Creeper.

Creeper gave a bow. "That's a righty roo. Creeper at your service, oh wise and powerful Justice League. Now if you'll point me to the bad guys, I'll show you how it's done...and if you could show me to that Harley Quinn girl, I'll gladly keep her occupied"

He said that last part of his statement with a rather distrubing smile.

"...We already took care of them" Wonder Woman said.

"What? Really? Already? Dang it, why am I always late for a party?! Oh well…" Creeper said with a disappointed look on his face. He looked towards Wonder Woman and looked her up and down and gave another disturbing grin.

"Hey...shame about Bats, it really is. He was a very good friend of mine. We were best friends as a matter of fact. We told each other everything. How's about I be his replacement for the League? Huh? Huh?" Creeper asked, nudging Superman.

"Excuse me?" Wonder Woman asked, eyebrows furrowing.

"Oh, come on. I know I'm not as smart as Batman but hey, I've got spirit. Come on. Come on! I'd like to get acquainted with all of you...well...some more than others" Creeper said stepping towards Wonder Woman and giving a playful growl. Diana looked at the yellow skinned man with a strong level of disgust

Superman came in between them and pushed Creeper back.

"We're thankful for the offer, Mr…..Creeper. However, we're not looking to replace Batman. We feel that to be disrespectful to someone we considered a friend" The Man of Steel said.

"Oh come on! It wouldn't be disrespectful. It'd just be doing the necessary. The more team members, the better right? I'm sure he'd agree with that. Come on, I could clean the Watchtower, press your cape, show all of you a good time" Creeper said and looked back at Wonder Woman behind Superman.

"Some more than others" Creeper said, wiggling his eyebrows.

Deciding he couldn't listen anymore to this nonsense, Nightwing used a syringe from his gadgets and delved it into Creeper's neck. The giggling yellow maniac started to get drowsy.

"Sleepy" He said before he fell to the ground, knocked out cold.

Everyone looked towards Nightwing.

"Just a drug that will keep him...calm for the next few hours. We'll take him back to his apartment" Nightwing said, picking up Creeper.

"Believe me, we'll sew it on this time" Batgirl said.

"Well this city just got a little more interesting" Flash said.

As they were about to part, a voice rang out.

"I thought I told all of you to stay away from Gotham" The voice said.

The Justice League and the Bat-Family turned their heads towards a dark alley. A figure started walking out into the light to reveal the Dark Knight himself: Batman with his regular uniform torn up, wearing a red fur cape and boots with a full beard growing under his mask.

The League and Bat-Family's eyes widened. It was Batman and he was alive.


	10. Chapter 10

_**(A/N: I do not own the DCAU. That right belongs to Warner Bros.)**_

* * *

A deafening silence went throughout the outside of the bank as the members of the Bat Family and the Justice League looked upon someone they presumed to be dead for a week.

They all stared at the Dark Knight with either their mouths wide open or their eyes bulging out of their sockets, unable to conjure a word from their mouths.

Batman (Almost amusingly) just raised an eyebrow.

"Did you not hear me? I thought I made it perfectly clear that Gotham was my city and that I didn't want any of you roaming around here" Batman said.

He spoke in a manner that was cruel but that didn't stop the overwhelming joy that was slowly growing inside everyone. Batman was alive! He was ok (Or at least what counted as ok to Batman)!

Nightwing was the first to move towards his former mentor. He stopped a mere six inches and stared at the bat with an almost emotional face. After about a minute of pure silence, Nightwing flung his arms around the man that had raised him since he was 12 years old.

Nightwing's action led to Batgirl and Robin doing the same. They quickly ran to Batman and joined together to form a group hug. They were together again. The full Bat Family had been reunited.

Batman allowed this until he shook them off.

"Well aren't you happy to see me?" Batman asked Nightwing with a raised eyebrow.

"Well...yeah. We kind of all thought that you were dead" Nightwing said, slowly explaining his sudden embrace of him after their relationship over the past few years had been shattered.

"Really? Batgirl? Robin? You all thought that I was dead?" Batman asked.

They both nodded at him.

"And all of you?" Batman asked the Justice League.

All six of them imitated Batgirl and Robin with nods.

Batman scoffed. "I'm disappointed in all of you"

Everyone got a surprised and confused look on their face. That clearly wasn't expected.

"What?" Nightwing asked with a raised eyebrow.

"The Law of Conservation of Mass states that matter cannot be created nor destroyed. If I was dead then Toyman's so called 'dis-integrator beam' should have left some trace of me but seeing as I'm alive and well now, it clearly didn't. Therefore, you all should have assumed that I was still alive despite whatever circumstances you may have found yourself in regarding my absence. Really, it's simple science" Batman said, condescendingly to everyone.

Everyone gave a glare to the Dark Knight. They knew he could be a buzzkill but even now when they believed him to be truly dead.

Superman stepped up towards the Dark Knight, staring at him with the same amount of coldness that he was giving him. Then all of a sudden, he smiled and placed his hand on his shoulder.

"It's good to see you too, Batman" Superman said warmly.

Batman let out a smile. "Well...you didn't get the city blown up so I guess I can forget you were here this one time"

"Believe me, we're grateful" Superman said with a raised eyebrow.

Diana held her emotion long enough. She ran up to him and gave him the biggest hug she could give him. A hug that was almost bone-crushing, even for Batman.

"...It's good to see you too, Diana" Batman said sincerely. Diana held the hug while Batman worked her arms around her as well.

Green Lantern smiled at the sight and nudged Hawkgirl and smirked at her. Hawkgirl just gave a smirk back and nodded.

"What are you two smiling at each other for?" Flash asked.

"What? You don't see it?" Green Lantern asked.

"See what?" Flash asked with an eyebrow raised.

"You know for someone who claims to be the fastest man alive, you can be very, very slow sometimes, you know that?" Hawkgirl said, trying to contain her inner laughter.

Flash just shrugged in a defensive way. He really didn't understand what they were talking about.

Once Batman and Wonder Woman separated, Batgirl stepped up. Of course, a couple of years back, she would've been super jealous about the sight of Bruce hugging another woman but that hormonal state of her life was over. Bruce was a good friend, nothing more. Nothing less.

"Well this is great. Alfred's going to be so happy. Come on, we have to go tell him" Batgirl said.

"Afterwards, you're coming to the Watchtower. Celebration on the Watchtower" Flash declared.

"The Watchtower is for monitoring emergencies across the galaxy, not a playhouse" Batman said, sternly.

"Well, let's take a vote. All in favor of a party" Flash said. All members of the League (Albeit Batman) raised their hands.

"Well that settles it. I'll get the cake" Flash said then dashed out of sight.

Batman sighed and shook his head. "I'll be there around 11 and I'll stay for an hour. I've been gone from Gotham too long"

"You've only been gone for about a week" Superman said.

"Exactly. Way too long" Batman said, narrowing his eyes at the man of steel.

Batman turned to Diana who just gave him an ecstatic smile.

"You seem happy to see me" Batman said with a smirk.

"Well of course. I do care about you, you know...love the beard, by the way. Keeping it?" Diana asked.

Batman shook his head. "Beards aren't my style"

"Well it suits you...do you remember when you said you would take me dancing someday when we saved the world from Savage?" Diana asked.

"I vividly remember it" Batman said.

"Well you're taking me dancing. Next week. Friday. I'll meet you at the manor. No excuses" Diana said.

"Diana, I don't-" Batman tried to say before Diana placed her fingers on his lips.

"I said no excuses. Have Alfred spiff you up a nice suit" Diana said. She gave Batman a quick kiss on the cheek.

"I'll see you at the party" Diana said with a wink and flew off.

Batman looked towards everyone and saw all of them had a smirk on their face.

"I'm...going to the batcave...I need to get changed...and Alfred will need to know I'm ok" Batman said. He took out his grappling gun and shot in the sky towards a building. He left the scene, leaving the rest of the League members and Bat Family.

"I gotta admit: I'm a sucker for a happy ending" Green Lantern said.

"Then why is your favorite movie 'Old Yeller'?" Hawkgirl asked.

"Hey, it had a somewhat happy ending after...you know" Green Lantern said in his defense.

"Sure. Right" Hawkgirl said, rolling his eyes.

"Should we inform Flash about Batman and Wonder Woman?" J'ohn asked.

"Not at all. As a matter of fact, let's make a bet. 20 bucks says it takes him at least 3 months for him to find out" Green Lantern said.

"I say 6. Batman's really good at keeping secrets" Hawkgirl said.

While they were talking amongst themselves, Superman walked back up to Nightwing.

"He always did know how to make an entrance" Superman said, grinning.

"I'm just upset I convinced myself he was actually dead. I should have known better" Nightwing said. He was trying to sound ticked off but in reality, he was the happiest he'd been in a long time.

"We all thought that. You shouldn't kick yourself" Superman said with a shrug.

"Right….so do you want your watches and comlinks back?" Nightwing asked.

Superman waved him off. "No. You keep them. Just in case"

"Well...thanks again" Nightwing said.

"Our pleasure. Anyway, we'd probably better go this time. Apparently, we have a party to attend" Superman said.

"Yeah and I guess I better get back to Bludhaven. I've been away too long" Nightwing said then silently cursed himself as he realized Bruce said something like that a while ago. He was becoming more like him every day.

"Alright, guys. Let's get back to the Watchtower" Superman said to the League. They all began to fly away in the same direction Wonder Woman flew.

"Well...things are starting to look up" Nightwing said.

"Yeah, they actually are" Batgirl said.

They both awkwardly looked at each other for quite some time. Robin got the message.

"Well, Alfred's probably waiting for me back home so I'll...leave you guys to it" Robin said. He began to walk away before he used his grappling hook to leave the scene. That left just Nightwing and Batgirl.

"So...how have things been?" Nightwing asked.

"Alright. How about you?" Batgirl asked.

"Fine...uh...listen Babs about how I left for Bludhaven like that…" Nightwing trailed before Batgirl stopped him.

"It's fine, Dick. I'm sorry I kept me and Bruce a secret. If it makes you feel any better, it was probably a mistake. It was pretty awkward from start to finish" Batgirl said.

"...Did you maybe want to...go out again sometime?" Nightwing asked.

Batgirl flashed a grin. "Why Mr. Grayson, you don't have dozens of young ladies banging down your door?"

Nightwing chuckled. "Nope. I wish"

"Well...I suppose I can. Iceberg Lounge. Saturday at 8?" Batgirl asked.

"Sounds good" Nightwing said. They both walked to each other and gave each other a hug.

When they parted, Nightwing offered to walk Barbara back home.

"No. I'm fine. Besides, I need to change before I actually get home and you can see why that may be a problem" Batgirl said with a smirk.

"I suppose so...I guess I'll see you Saturday then?" Nightwing asked.

"...I guess you will" Batgirl said with a wink. She turned around and grappled away towards her home.

Nightwing smiled to himself. He thinks life was going to get better for everybody soon enough then walked on the sidewalk towards Bludhaven.


	11. Chapter 11

_**(A/N: I do not own the DCAU. That right belongs to Warner Bros.)**_

* * *

It didn't take long for Gotham and the rest of the world to realize the Batman was alive all along. Mostly because the Justice League released a public statement about his return and he was back to fighting alongside the League on missions. Of course, the rest of the League wanted Batman to rest after what happened but they knew it was a lost cause. It was Batman after all.

Gotham especially knew about his return because of the return to how things usually were. Criminals were being hung by their feet under street lamps, the Bat-Signal still went up when there was trouble brewing and the police didn't seem the least bit worried about facing these superpowered criminals alone. It was as if nothing ever happened.

Alfred nearly had a heart attack when he practically jumped for joy when he realized the man he considered a son was not dead after all. He gave Batman the longest hug he believed anyone gave anybody. Batman of course wasn't the hugging type but he always had a special place in his heart for Alfred. At the elderly butler's request, Batman took more precautions than he already did and he always made sure he was getting enough food and sleep as well. Alfred knew the Dark Knight could handle himself but after what he'd experienced over the past week, he didn't want to take any chances.

Batman told the League about how Toyman actually sent him into the future instead of destroying him and how he and Savage had to work together to send him back. He also gave intel about how he was going to steal of piece of star matter from Ray Palmer to create a device he'd then use to destroy the Earth. With all 7 of them there to stop him, there was no need to worry anymore about him destroying anything...for now. Batman knew the Savage he was experiencing in his present would never know it but they were actually doing him a huge favor.

Him and Diana were also getting pretty close, closer than they were already. They started eating lunch more often, having long conversations in the halls and more. Some of the more non-oblivious members of the League (Green Lantern, Hawkgirl and J'ohn) noticed. Flash and Superman, not so much. Flash being clueless about them was a given but as Green Lantern said to Hawkgirl: For someone with 50 different types of visions, he couldn't believe Superman could be so blind.

Batman was also contemplating for a long while about his relationship with her. He tried to deny it for the longest time but he did have to admit: Savage did have a point. He was always tied to the Amazon princess in a way he hadn't been tied to any other woman before. Not Selina, not Talia, not Zatanna, not Lois, not Barbara, not anybody like her, really. He needed to stay professional, though. He couldn't let his feelings for her potentially jeopardize her life by having criminals get through her. However, with recent events and upcoming events, like his date with her tonight, that was a task that was easier said than done.

Bruce Wayne was currently being dressed by Alfred in his bedroom. He was obviously not liking this one bit.

"Alfred, I can do this myself" Bruce said, annoyingly.

"Master Bruce, you need a professional's help if you want to make yourself presentable to a lady" Alfred said like a parent to a child.

"What are you talking about? I've gone on dates plenty of times and I dressed myself just fine. You didn't care then" Bruce said.

"This is not one of your 'weekly flings', Master Bruce. Miss Diana happens to be a very elegant young lady, also one that won't take kindly to any excuses from you about lack of readiness for your evening out" Alfred said.

"Isn't that the truth" Bruce said under his breath.

"So I'm making sure you're well prepared" Alfred said, fixing up Bruce's bow-tie.

After Alfred helped dress him, he and Alfred walked down to the entrance of the manor. Just as they were walking down, the doorbell rang.

The elderly butler gave a smirk to Bruce. Alfred went down the stairs and answered the door. Outside stood Diana Prince in an elegant black dress that covered her feet like the one she wore when they danced months back.

"Miss Diana. What a pleasure. Please do come in" Alfred said.

"Thank you, Alfred" Diana said to the kind butler and made her way inside the manor. She looked to Bruce and smiled.

"Well, don't you clean up nice, Mr. Wayne?" Diana asked.

"Thanks...so do you" Bruce, looking up and down her dress.

"Thanks but do me a favor and try to keep your eyes up here most of the night" Diana said, pointing up to her face with a playful grin. Bruce just rolled his eyes.

Alfred gave a little chuckle. "Well let's not waste anymore time. A marvelous night of fun awaits you two"

"It does indeed. May I?" Bruce said, holding out his arm.

"You may" Diana said, taking Bruce's arm. They both followed Alfred out of the manor and to Bruce's car. Alfred got in the front seat while Bruce and Diana sat in the back.

"Now carry on with your conversation. I'm just a chauffeur after all" Alfred said.

Bruce and Diana just turned to each other and smiled.

"So...I still can't believe you worked together with Savage to get you back to the present" Diana said.

Bruce sighed. "He was as insufferable as ever...but he was the only person on Earth with a time machine. Actually, he was the only living person on Earth. I spent weeks with only myself and sometimes some mutated wolves to keep me company"

Diana frowned. "It must have been hard for you. To spend so long without anyone to talk to"

"Well...I guess it wasn't really anything I wasn't already used to" Bruce responded.

"That really shouldn't be anything you should be used to" Diana said.

"It shouldn't be something anyone's used to...but I've been used to it since I was eight" Bruce said. Diana just gave him a frown as they just stayed quiet the rest of the time there.

* * *

_*Iceberg Lounge*_

Alfred parked the car outside the Iceberg Lounge where numerous couples were going in and out. The elderly butler stepped out of the car and opened the passenger door on the right, letting out Bruce and Diana.

"I'll be back in a few hours. Do enjoy yourself, Master Bruce and Madam Diana" Alfred said.

"We will, Alfred. Thank you" Bruce said. Diana gave Alfred a kiss on the cheek which caused him to flush a little bit. He got back in the car and drove off.

"So...this is the famous Iceberg Lounge I've heard so much about?" Diana asked, looking up at the sign.

"The most popular nightclub in Gotham, yes...though I highly suspect it to be a hideaway for the Penguin's criminal underworld operations" Bruce said, narrowing his eyes.

"Well that can wait because tonight, we're having fun and you're dancing with me" Diana said in a commanding tone. She pulled Bruce inside.

Of course, with Wonder Woman not having any alias or any disguise of some sort in her civilian wear, people noticed her and people noticed her with Bruce Wayne of all people.

"We're not exactly being inconspicuous here" Bruce said with a raised eyebrow as they both sat down at a table with numerous eyes on them.

"Oh, quiet Bruce. Just ignore them. Don't you know how to have fun?" Diana asked.

"I just don't want anyone connecting dots" Bruce said.

"Bruce, you're way too paranoid. Remember that Superman only wears a pair of glasses in his civilian wear? I don't even think Luthor knows and he's supposed to be the smartest man on the planet" Wonder Woman questioned.

"I suppose so" Bruce said. After all, if people didn't even realize that Batman was Bruce Wayne after both men supposedly died at the same time, he guessed people were clueless all around.

Suddenly, a song came from the band and singer on the Iceberg in the center of the room.

Diana's eyes brightened up. She loved this song.

"Come on Bruce, let's dance" Diana said, pulling Bruce off his chair and to the dance floor. Normally, Bruce would protest but considering he would be contesting his normal human strength to the strength of an Amazonian, he felt he probably should just amuse her request. After all, he did end up agreeing to all this.

Diana let him go as they went on to the dance floor. Bruce put his hand on her waist and Diana put his hand on his shoulder as they began to dance slowly. Women from all across the lounge glared at the Amazonian Princess, seething with jealously. The reverse was true of Bruce as well. Several men glared at Bruce, jealous that he was dancing with arguably the most beautiful woman on the planet.

"So...this is nice" Diana said as Bruce twirled her around. Her back was now on his chest as they both looked each other in the eye.

"...I suppose it is" Bruce said with a half-smile on his face.

Diana playfully scoffed. "You can admit that you're having fun, Bruce. I won't think less of you for that"

"Well fun isn't really a thing I've been acquainted with in a long while" Bruce said.

"Well...maybe I should reintroduce you to it sometimes" Diana said with a sly smirk.

"Well I don't know about that, Diana" Bruce said with a grimacing look on his face which caused Diana to frown and give a Bruce a frustrated look.

"Bruce, why do you always feel like you have to be this serious person all the time? Why can't you just let go every once in a while? Why can't you...settle down for a while...maybe with someone special" Diana said silently at the end.

Bruce and Diana stared at each other as they continued their dance. Finally, Bruce gave a sigh and said something.

"Diana...there is nothing more I would like than to do just that but I can't let anything interfere with my work...it's way too important to me" Bruce said.

"You don't have to sacrifice your own happiness to help people" Diana said.

"It's not about sacrificing my happiness, Diana. A lot of people who shouldn't know about my...hobbies know what I do and if word gets out of a personal love interest, especially you, they wouldn't rest until they got to me through her" Bruce said.

Diana let out a frustrated laugh. "You talk as if I'm some little girl who can't take care of herself. I've been training for combat my entire life which has been quite ample"

"There's more to this business than just being tough, princess" Bruce said with a slight smirk and raised eyebrow.

"I know that, rich boy but I've learned quite a bit from being a member of the Justice League and do you know the most important lesson I've learned from being a part of it?" Diana asked.

"What would that be?" Bruce asked.

"It's that things always have a way of turning out the way it should. I mean we thought you were gone for almost a week and yet here you are. Even when all hope seemed lost, you came back to us like you always do" Diana said with a smile.

"That was lucky" Bruce said.

"Whether it was or not, I don't care. Whatever tough situation we may find ourselves in, we always manage to pull through with it and I believe that can work with us as well" Diana said.

Bruce stared at her for a moment before looking down at the floor, deep in thought.

"...This is not something I'm exactly comfortable with, Diana" Bruce said.

Diana gave him a smirk. "Well...you're going to have to learn to get used to it"

She tilted his chin up and kissed him smack on the lips.

Heads all across the room turned and looked towards the two of them kissing. Pictures were snapped all around the lounge. The two of them didn't notice however. They were pretty much lost in each other.

Bruce hardly couldn't believe what was happening. This feeling he had inside of him. It was...nice. Real nice. He hadn't felt this way since his engagement to Poison Ivy's plant based lifeform susan. However, this time it was different because he wasn't under Ivy's pheromone spell this time.

Diana felt ecstatic. She was finally kissing him. After 2 years of supposedly meaningless flirtation, she was finally kissing the first man she ever found herself attracted to. She felt like the luckiest woman alive (Despite the fact that she was exiled from her home and hardly ever saw her mother again).

After minutes of having their faces attached to each other, they finally parted for air.

Bruce turned and saw people talking. Some he recognized as members of the press from some of his press conferences. Boy were there going to be headlines tomorrow.

"Well now...this isn't good" Bruce said with a frown as he looked around.

"What?" Diana asked. Bruce then gestured his head. Diana looked around and saw that he was referring to people talking around them.

"Oh, let them talk, Bruce. Who cares what they think. Besides, this will get criminals from thinking there's something between Batman and Wonder Woman, right?" Diana asked.

"Well no but now Bruce Wayne will have to deal with your villains as they use me to get to you" Bruce said sternly.

"Oh, you'll be fine, Bruce. Besides, you'll have an Amazon to protect you especially from those dangerous, lonely nights" Diana said with a knowing smirk on her face.

"So I'm going to be your Lois Lane, then?" Bruce asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Seems like it, yeah. You're not getting out of this, you know" Diana said.

"Hm...well...I guess I don't really have a choice then" Bruce said with a wide smile on his face. Diana smiled and pulled him in for another kiss, causing the masses around them to stir once more.

Bruce knew there was going to be repercussions of this but right now, he didn't really care at the moment. All that mattered right now was him and this rather wonderful woman spending time together and they were going to be spending lots of more time together from here on out.


End file.
